Celebrate TN hoopster Anitha's Padma award with these inspiring Tamil films that showcase women in sports

Tamil Nadu basketball player and the former captain of the national side, Anitha Pauldurai, is one among the seven sportsperson from across the country to be conferred with the Padma awards. She is given Padma Shri by the Government of India for her contributions in the sport during a career that spanned over two decades. Like in the case of any sportsperson, she, too, has witnessed many ups and downs. And the Padma award comes as one of the biggest achievements in her career. Here, we take a look at films made in Kollywood that highlight the passion of women in different sports.

‘Irudhi Suttru’, starring Madhavan and Ritika Singh, is one film that kind of pumped up the interest of Kollywood fans for sports dramas, featuring women. While Madhavan plays the role as a boxing coach and essays it with such finesse, it is the then newcomer, Ritika Singh, who wins the hearts of films buffs and critics alike with her intense performance as a fierce young woman, who picks up boxing under Madhavan’s coaching. Despite the challenges, misunderstandings and rejections she faces, she finally emerges victorious. The character that Ritika plays, Ezhil Madhi, is a fish vendor who is spotted by her coach as a natural talent and grooms her to become a professional boxer who goes on to win the World Boxing Championship. ‘

It is the dream that shapes every great thing and this film, ‘Kanaa’, starring Aishwarya Rajesh in the lead role is about a girl’s dream to make it big in cricket. She picks up the sport after realising her father’s passion for the sport. She starts playing with the local boys in the neighbourhood and then, gets selected to the Tamil Nadu women’s team and finally, into the Indian team. But even after making it to the national side, she faces different challenges until a new coach (Sivakarthikeyan) takes charge of the team. The story ends with the team winning the T20 World Cup and Kowsi (the role Aishwarya played) playing a major part in the team’s victory.

Director Suseenthiran, who made his debut in Kollywood with his sports drama film ‘Vennila Kabadi Kuzhu’, directed this film as well. While ‘Vennila Kabadi Kuzhi’ shows the interest of a bunch of young men in kabbadi and how they dream about winning a local tournament, ‘Kennedy Club’ focuses on women’s hockey. It tells the story of a few underprivileged, yet skilled women hockey players from a village. They are coached by Savarimuthu (the role played by Bharathiraja). When he falls ill, he is replaced by Muruganandham (played by Sasikumar).